s to silence] right now on msnbc sunday bermuda braces for hurricane igor. when will the storm be at its worst? we'll have that in a live report from the weather channel. california cult -- an emergency alert this morning for missing members of a cult-like organization. were they planning a mass suicide? scientists trying to see if the fractured rig behind the worst oil spill in u.s. history is sealed for good. heading home. the hiker released from iran is about to land on american soil for the first time since her long ordeal began. good morning everyone. i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc sunday. we're talking about bermuda which is bracing for hurricane igor. the category one storm is expected to strike the island

later today but already as you can see right there the big waves are pounding bermuda's beaches while islanders rush to board up windows and prep for the storm. let's get more details from the weather channel's jeff morrow. it's a busy time in bermuda. good morning. >> good morning, alex. yeah, they had better have those windows and doors boarded up by now because alex is on the door step. as you can see, here is the center of this hurricane igor and there is bermuda and it's not that far away. we're within about 12 hours or so of this thing passing almost directly over or very close to bermuda. now the good news here, alex, is that the winds are down to 85 miles an hour so it is a category one. it has weakened a little bit. it's going to be a long duration event here. it's such a big hurricane in coverage that it's going to take a while for these hurricane and tropical storm force winds to pass over the island. they may have that for about 18-24 hours. by probably monday it looks like the hurricane will start to

accelerate away to the northeast so it's within the next 12 to 18 hours they'll see the worst of it and it should get out of there pretty quickly and of course never really affecting us here in the u.s. speaking of here in the u.s. the northeast should have a pretty nice day including you there in new york city, alex. looks like a nice day of 79 degrees. 74 in boston. a little bit in the way of some rain showers farther west back toward pittsburgh and maybe up toward the binghamton area as well. most of the rain today will be in the midwest. it could be on the heavy side around st. louis and chicago getting some rain. a little soggy here. warmer to the south. it's going to be hot across much of the south but cooler, a taste of fall across much of the upper midwest. we'll keep you updated on igor, alex, as it gets closer. back to you. >> thank you for that and i love it when you hook us up with great weather here in new york. thanks, jeff. >> all right. the end is in sight to the bp oil spill disaster. we are waiting to hear about a final test on the blown out oil well in the gulf of mexico.

after pumping in cement to seal the well from the bottom the test was the last step needed before the well can finally be declared dead. nbc's kristen dahlgren is live in venice, louisiana. good morning, kristen. what is the final test entailing? >> reporter: hey, good morning, alex. this is a pressure test. what we do know is that they were able to finish cementing this well. they pumped in 74 barrels of cement. they let it dry and then late last night in the overnight hours they were supposed to do this pressure test. it was expected to take about a half an hour and they were going to be testing if that thousand-foot cement seal would hold. so for half an hour it had to hold at a pressure of 1150 psi. it was supposed to be completed sometime around midnight. so we're still waiting to hear whether or not they were able to do that test and then again what the results were. it is expected that the incident commander admiral thad allen will make the official

announcement again. we are waiting. it could come at any minute, alex. >> even with the well being declared dead, kristen, the impacts are felt by the gulf coast residents for the most part including the seafood industry. let's take a listen to what one of them is saying. >> they can kill all they want but it's not going to do no good because the oil is already on the surface floor. the damage is done already. >> was that the kind of reaction you're seeing from residents there? >> oh, absolutely. that's the common refrain around here. you know, even the government says that along 109 miles of coast line here they're still seeing moderate to heavy oil impacts on a daily basis. so a lot of the fishermen, the shrimpers saying that this may have already killed their livelihoods for sometime to come, alex. >> okay. kristen dahlgren, thanks so much. we'll check again. well, to washington now and the president is working to fire up his base, a base that is largely drained of its excitement about politics according to recent polls.

and a congressional black caucus foundation fundraiser last night, the president told the crowd the last election was a changing of the guard and now it's time to guard the change. >> i need everybody to go back to your neighborhoods, go back to your workplaces, go to churches and go to the barbershops and beauty shops and tell them, we've got more work to do. >> nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house for us. good sunday morning, mike. >> good morning, alex. >> this is pretty good. a changing of the guard and now time to guard the change. what else is the president saying? >> a political call to arms. it really is at least a call to political arms because the chips are down for democrats. we're 45 days from the november 2nd election, alex, and things are looking very grim. many experts now favoring republicans to take over control of the house of representatives. even if they don't win the senate the house will be enough to stymie any plans now laid for

energy, immigration, because the house, the majority rules. the president will have to redo the playbook. a lot of people are obviously going to be happy about that. they don't think it's a necessarily bad thing, but certainly not this white house. they have been out on the stump. the president has delivered a number of fiery speeches beginning on labor day to that labor day crowd in milwaukee and last night to the cbc. he also talked about the economy a great deal. the familiar reframe about the hole that he walked into in the oval office, debt much worse than expected, economy losing 750,000 jobs a month. he reminded everybody there last night of these facts while he talked about the need to keep working on the economy. let's listen to what he said. >> remember, the other side has a plan, too. they want to do what's right politically instead of what's right period. the only agenda they've got is to go back to the same old policies that got us into this mess in the first place. everything that we are for, our

opponents have spent two years fighting against. >> the familiar pasirable of putting it in for democratic or r for reverse or republican the car in the ditch the metaphor about the economy the president has employed time and time again, alex, doesn't seem to be getting much traction, pardon the pun. but he is going to keep plugging away. he has a lot of political travel, two fundraisers for the national democratic party and individual candidates coming up this week. >> we thank you for your clever reporting, mike viqueira. see you next hour. >> reporter: all right. at least six people are dead from an accident in new york after a church van flipped over on the thruway. police say 14 people were in that van when it crashed about 55 miles north of new york city. at least eight others were injured and most of them critically. authorities are blaming a blown out tire as the cause of that crash. heading home, one of the hikers held for more than a year in iran is about to return to the u.s. and we've got a live report coming up.

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five adults and eight children are missing in los angeles county and authorities are concerned they could be involved in cult-like activity. authorities believe that group is made up of el salvadoran immigrants led by this woman. now we go to burbank. this has to be a lot of concern particularly because of those kids. good morning. >> reporter: a lot of concern, alex, absolutely right. in fact, those kids range from age from 3 to 17 years old, so as you can imagine authorities are really anxious to find them. so are their family members. at this point in time officials are telling us they believe the missing are immigrants from el

salvador. last night police deployed their full force in an area in palmdale about an hour north of los angeles. that's where many of the missing live. relatives reported them missing yesterday afternoon after they became concerned because they went missing after a prayer service. they also expressed concern because they discovered personal belongings like cell phones and documents and disturbing letters in a purse that one of the cult members left behind. take a listen to how a sheriff's department spokesperson describes this cult-like group. >> well, they belong to a cult-like religious organization we believe. at least, that's all the indications, headed up by a woman, a female. and they left behind personal belongings and notes saying that they were going to go meet jesus or go meet their deceased relatives. >> now, again, that female leader has been identified as rena chicas so is considered a person of interest right now. at this point in time police don't know exactly what the

group's religious affiliation is but they believe they met in a christian church. one more interesting point, alex, is about six months ago we're told these members were headed to a rocky outdoors area to wait for an earthquake or some sort of natural disaster. one of the members actually blew the whistle on the plan so they canceled it but they also wound up ostracizing the member who blew the whistle. alex? >> okay. pretty frightening stuff. thanks so much. let's get details now on the very powerful hurricane igor. it is a storm that's taking aim at bermuda and officials warn its pounding rains and driving winds could be deadly. weather channel's jim cantore is in bermuda with the very latest on this. hello to you, jim. i know yesterday it was looking pretty rough out there, the seas, it looks even worse today. how are you? >> reporter: yeah, we're in this. it's going to be like this tomorrow morning, alex, maybe even a little worse because the storm will be closer. even on the radar, which goes

out 300 miles, we still can't see the center yet. and we're getting into these tropical storm force winds already. there have been reports of about 3600 people that have lost power on the island, the southern provinces of bermuda that have lost power, about 64,000 residents. the surf is the big story. it's massive out through here. the waves coming in you can't see from where we're standing because we are trying to protect the camera but there are chunks of beach, about four feet of beach just torn off and that's what is going to be i think the most visual sight in addition to the trees and power lines down, once this is all said and done. so, yes. even though it is not what it was yesterday, it will not be fabian in terms of the strongest winds, it's the longevity. this is going to last three times as long as fabian did. we're talking about 36 to possibly 40 hours of tropical storm force winds which we have begun mindon we'll be riding out. the worst of this coming tonight probably around midnight as the center is expected to be at the closest point to the island of

bermuda. we'll give you pictures as long as we can and baton down the hatches. just kind of wait and see what mother nature has to offer. at least with igor weakening igor will once again play second fiddle to frankenstein. how about that? >> let's hope. thanks for that reporting as long as you can, jim cantore. >> reporter: okay. it's not surprising given the hardships we're seeing all across the land that a lot of people may not be feeling very energized, very engaged right now. a lot of folks may be feeling like politics is something that they get involved with every four years when there's a presidential election. but they don't see why they should bother the rest of the time. >> president obama at a fundraiser for the congressional black caucus foundation last night laying out the difficult road ahead for democrats. he told the crowd the time for action is now but the polls say

democrats aren't nearly as passionate about politics as they were in 2008. i'm joined now live by eleanor clift contributing editor for "newsweek" and nia henderson a reporter for "the washington post." ladies, good morning. >> good morning. >> it's a mid-term election year. what can the president do to address this enthusiasm gap? >> well, first of all the republicans have had heated competitive primaries which gets the base, their base worked up. and the democrats have had a pretty calm walk to the nomination for most of their incumbents, so there hasn't been a lot of reason to get involved. and i think the democrats are just beginning to fight. the president is now out there on the campaign trail. i think the excerpt from the speech was from the congressional black caucus dinner where he is trying to get members of the black caucus to get their constituents rallied. so i think there's always a normal fall off in the mid term as the president said. people just don't get as excited

voting for some local member who they may not even know his or her name as they do for presidential elections. he has to make the case that this is important and get people to understand what's at stake for him. >> yeah. >> if they care about progressive policies. >> if we look at the associated press, there's a poll that finds 26% of democrats are excited about politics compared with 80% of democrats who are excited back in november of 2008. so the suggestion from an article that i read from you in "the washington post" in terms of how democrats can recapture the excitement of the '08 race in part lies in the african-american community and getting them all fired up. >> exactly. obama has about a 91% approval rating among black voters so in a lot of ways they'll dust off this playbook that they had in 2001 and get those folks engaged and excited. they're very much wanting to make this a referendum on president obama and if they think they can do that they really like their chances among black voters. not only among black voters.

if you look at the approval rating that obama has among hispanic voters it's about 70%. so they're thinking in states like nevada, california, in these states with large black and brown populations if they can get those folks engaged and not all of them, i don't think they believe the enthusiasm level will be the same as it was in 2008 but if they're able to peel off, you know, a good portion of those new voters that came to the polls in 2008, they really like their chances in 2010, in november. >> you know, eleanor, you talk about how the republicans may be a little more fired up and that's probably in no large part -- i mean due in large part to the tea party and all of that sort of fire branding that's gone on within the party and we also have the scrutiny continuing of christine o'donnell of course the newly minted gop senate candidate in delaware. here are new developments this weekend. bill maher dug up this tv clip from 1999 where o'donnell says she, quote, dabbled in witchcraft. also o'donnell backed out of two national tv interviews scheduled for today but i should note her campaign says it's due to

scheduling conflicts. do you think her candidacy is going to be able to weather all of this? >> well, she is going to take all of these investigative reports and basically say that they're smear attacks and then maybe she'll do what a lot of male lawmakers have done and say, hey. i did those things when i was young and care free and they shouldn't count now. actually, 1999 isn't that long ago. but among the people who really like her, i think this will make them like her even more. they'll see her as embattled. but it's still hard to see a path to victory for her in a general election when things like experience and records and scandals do tend to matter when the electorate is broader. she won a closed republican primary. it's a very small slice of voters in delaware. i think she will not fare as well facing the broader electorate. >> your thoughts on the scrutiny of christine o'donnell?

how do you think that is going to play out? >> i think we'll just see more and more of it. you can already see her saying oh, this was years ago. this was when i was young and i've evolved since then. i think eleanor is right. that primary i think had something like 30,000 voters so she'll have a very difficult time in the general and you already see -- even republicans are very vocal in saying that she's got a really, really hard path to victory in that state. >> okay. ladies, more from the both of you next hour. i look forward to seeing you then. >> thank you. today on "meet the press sunday" former president bill clinton and retired general colin powell weigh in on the job president obama is doing in the u.s. role in iraq in afghanistan. it is today on "meet the press" always on sundays for you. check your local listings. almost home. the american hiker held for 13 months in iran is flying back to the u.s. we have a live report next. also, there is a new number one movie at the box office. we'll tell you what it is here on msnbc sunday. make me sneeze.. my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel.

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the american woman released from iran after more than a year in custody is expected to touchdown in new york this morning. she is planning to talk to the media this afternoon. her two hiking companions including her fiance are still being held in iran. nbc's ron allen is live in new york outside the hotel where shourd will be speaking later today. with a good sunday morning to you, ron, any word on what she is expected to say? >> reporter: i think she is going to be very cautious and diplomatic and very grateful because this is still a very delicate situation as you know. one reason she chose to stop here in new york is because world leaders are also gathering here this week for the annual meetings of the u.n. general assembly. iran's president will also be coming here to new york. her -- she is free but her ordeal is still far from over. sarah shourd prepared to leave oman full of gratitude to the country that helped her gain her freedom. >> i will always associate your country with the first breath of

my freedom. the sweet smell of sandalwood and the chance to stand by the ocean listening to the waves. >> reporter: and once again she appealed for the release of her companions. >> please, please extend your prayers to my fiance, shane, and my friend, josh. they will soon be free. >> reporter: iranian officials said they were arrested with shourd back in 2009 for allegedly crossing illegally from iraq into iran and will face trial for spying. the americans claim they were just hiking. in tehran last week nbc's andrea mitchell asked iran's president what evidence exists of spying. >> i think we should let the judge and the court decide about the case. >> reporter: he said on state run television that the united states should now release several iranians being held in america and has listed 11

people. >> we hope our dear iranians who are in prison there will be reunited with their families. >> reporter: meanwhile, shourd flew to the u.s. from oman with her companions bauer and fattal still very much on her mind. >> it is my deepest, deepest hope that i will be able to show shane and josh the grand mosque soon, one of the most peaceful and powerful places of worship i have ever seen. >> reporter: bauer and fattal's families and supporters have suggested the iranian president bring the two men with him when he comes to new york for the u.n. meetings but that seems very unlikely. alex? >> thank you very much for that live report from new york. we'll check in again. the new supernatural thriller "devil" is scaring crowds at the box office this weekend. in the film a group of strangers is trapped in an elevator and one of them is the prince of darkness. take a look. >> what happened to her? >> it feels like something bit

me. >> wait, wait. does anybody have anything sharp on them she might have cut herself on? >> no. >> why do you have blood on you, man? >> she fell into me. >> so did "devil" deliver? the film pulled in nearly $13 million this weekend. that puts it in the top three. number two, "easy a" and the number one movie this weekend "the town." joining me live is amy palmer senior editor with "in touch weekly." good morning. let's talk first about "devil." it's pretty scary and there's been a lot of buzz. it only came in third. how good is it? >> critics are saying if you love this genre definitely go see it. he has given the most incredible thrillers of this generation. "sixth sense" grossed $600 million at the box office. later films didn't do as well but he has such a built-in audience it is going to be very well received. it's creepy.

it's scary. as you saw from that clip if you want to feel that at the movies this is definitely the movie to go see. >> "the town" stars ben aflac, a ruthless bank robber. let's watch a clip here. >> are we taking hostages now. >> no, we're not taking hostages now. take the scenic route? >> got a problem. >> what? >> look. >> so what? >> she lives four blocks away from here. >> yeah, i know. >> she didn't see anything. >> you sure? >> so there's oscar buzz surrounding this one. right? >> there is. i saw this movie friday night. the theater was packed. i think everybody was really excited to see ben afflak on screen. he directed this as well as starring in it and pulled out amazing performances of his costars so i think as a director he is something to really watch out for. this is his second directorial

debut. the first film he directed "gone, baby, gone" only grossed $20 million total at the box office and this movie took in $23.6 million in the first weekend. so i think this is a new career path. >> maybe so. right? let's take a look at number two film called "easy a." check it out, everyone. >> i like your dress. >> thank you. you can have them when you get a little taller if you want. >> i'll never go through puberty. >> of course you will, baby. but we're a family of late bloomers. i didn't until i was 14 nor did olive. >> why does that matter? i'm adopted. >> what? oh, my god! who told you? >> guys, we were going to do this at the right time. >> oh, i love those two. they're so terrific. what are the critics saying? >> the critics are loving this film. we love this film at "in touch weekly." it is actually this generation's "clueless" and emma stone who plays the lead character is

compared to alicia silverstone because it is really generating with today's audiences. when i was at the theater friday night tweens were everywhere for this movie so i don't think we've seen the last of it even though it only came in second. i think it is going to have us at the box office. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. pope benedict gears up to say good-bye to britain. a live report on this, the last day of his historic visit. and now outrage from the television reporter who said she was harassed while attending a jets football practice. ] something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. delicious pringles multigrain. multigrain pops with pringles. [ male announcer ] the u.s. government may soon require brake override technology on all new cars and trucks. at nissan, we think this is a good idea.

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in bermuda residents are rushing to board up windows, fill sand bags, and stock up on supplies because they are preparing for hurricane igor. officials are warning the category one storm will be a long and punishing one.

joining me now on the phone is consul general to bermuda from the u.s. >> i think you summed it up right. we're getting ready, shutting up windows and battoning up the hatches because it looks like it will be long and dangerous because of high winds for a long time. >> we've had our weather channel cameras trained on the waters and they look rather punishing to say the least. where are you right now and what are you seeing? >> my house is up on a hill so i am getting lots of windy gusts and it's raining here. i think we expect the winds to pick up more. there are already tree limbs down on the roads and so people are hunkering down and everybody is being urged to stay inside. >> are you most concerned about? is it beach erosion which might allow flooding that way? is it flooding from the rains? is it the winds tearing off roofs of homes? all of that? >> i think the biggest concern is the flying debris because

everybody is, you know, tying down outdoor furniture, even putting it in pools to keep it from blowing away but the tree limbs and that's the biggest concern is flying debris. they expect a storm surge and so at the -- around the airport as you said they've been putting sand bags to try to keep the water from getting into the airport which is closed now. >> okay. so, clearly. everyone who is on that island or that group of islands, they're going to have to ride this out. there is nowhere to go. >> correct. >> okay. yeah. i should think. do you get a sense everyone is taking this seriously? >> very seriously. the bermuda weather service works closely with the national hurricane center and the forecast was early enough that everybody has been preparing for days. they've been -- people have been flocking to the hardware stores, buying flash lights, batteries. i know i've got my bath tubs and buckets filled with water in case we lose power. and shutters are -- the houses are shuttered and as you mentioned there are plywood

boards up on windows that don't have shutters. >> well, consul general of the u.s. to bermuda, grace shelton, best of luck to you as you keep abreast of all the u.s. interests there. good luck. >> thank you very much. >> we'll have more on hurricane igor, the storm creating dangerous rip currents along the eastern shore of the u.s. we'll have a live report from south carolina in a few minutes. meantime, today pope benedict wraps up his four-day visit to the uk. new information to tell you about. six men arrested in connection with a terror plot have all been released by authorities. meanwhile the pope said mass this morning in birmhamton marking the 70th anniversary of the blitz with a personal recollection of the nazi regime. we're joined from london and with a good sunday morning to you, nina, what is on the agenda today for the pope? >> reporter: good morning to you as well, alex. well, the pope today completed one of his essential goals on this historic visit to britain, his first beatification since becoming pope benedict xvi. watched by tens of thousands of

people in the city the pontiff sent one of britain's most prominent anglican converts to catholic sicism firmly on the r to sainthood. that is the real reason the pope is here. he needs to attract more people to his church. and to highlight that, and the dwindling number of catholic priests currently being ordained across the united kingdom, he will be visiting a seminary later on today, one which is struggling to find new recruits. at the end of the day the prime minister david cameron will be making a speech thanking pope benedict for his visit to his country. >> okay. nina, what about the release of these six men? what's the latest on that? >> well, as you quite rightfully said in your introduction, alex, they have now been released and the consensus across the country is that perhaps the police may have over reacted to what was essentially a joke made between workers before they went on their shifts a few days ago. thankfully what seems to have

been a false alarm hasn't caused the pope to waver from his carefully planned and busy agenda. the security arrangements were discreetly reinforced over the past few days since the arrests were made earlier in the week. britons some fear may wake up with an economic hangover following all of this because the bill for protecting the pontiff before the security arrangements were reviewed had already cost the british taxpayers nearly $2 million, alex. >> a lot of money. all right, nina del santos, thank you very much. the nation of chile is reminding the 33 trapped miners they haven't been forgotten as chile celebrated the bicentennial of its independence day and its president delivered a special message to those miners yesterday. he said he wished they were there to celebrate and the work to rescue them was moving forward. the miners were also given a special meal for the national holiday. wall street will be focused on washington this week as the federal reserve bank meets to discuss interest rates and what can be done to jump-start the

economy. it is also a big week for the housing market as home sales and home building is expected to rise while permits for future home construction and home prices are expected to fall. joining us is "the washington post" financial reporter neil irwin. good morning you to. >> good morning, alex. >> let's take a look ahead at the week. we've got the reports on the housing market index coming out monday. housing starts tuesday. existing home sales wednesday. what are you predicting? >> here is what we expect to see. the housing activity, home sales activity probably rose in august both for existing home sales and new home sales. what is happening is still a kind of yo-yo effect after the end of the home buyers' tax credit during the spring. it caused a big collapse in home sales activity in july and it looks like there is going to be a rise in august. as you said a moment ago, prices still seem to be drifting down a little bit. we're still in a stage where home prices are not plummeting like they were a year or two ago but they are drifting down kind of slowly and that pattern looks like it might have repeated itself as we went through the

summer. >> okay. how about the trend with mortgage rates? is it heading upwards now? they've been so low, right? where could they go? >> the last couple weeks we have seen mortgage rates edge up a little bit. that said, it doesn't look like we'll see any real spike in mortgage rates in the near future. they've been really low, below 4.5%, which is stunningly low by any historical standard, and also we may even see them drift lower in the months ahead. the federal reserve probably not this week but over the next few months, they're thinking of ways they can stimulate the economy, which would have the effect of lowering mortgage rates further, maybe, you know, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4%. there is a chance we'll see rates dip lower in the months ahead though in the last couple weeks they've edged up a little bit. >> you'd think such low mortgage rates would jump-start home sales and that really hasn't been the case. why not? >> well, you know what we're seeing now is a return to the fundamentals in the housing market. we had a period where the government was doing everything it possibly could to try and stimulate home activity. that started in 2009. so you had low mortgage rates.

then you had the home buyer tax credit. you had all kinds of government incentives to try and encourage home ownership. as those things go away what we're seeing is some of that burst of activity we saw in late '09 and later in 2010 was cannibalizing sales from other times. so some of the people who would be buying right now in the second half of 2010 instead bought earlier in the year to take advantage of these credits and things. so we'll see weakness in housing for a few more months as this kind of yo-yo effect dissipates and we get back to a normal housing market. >> okay. neil, i'll have you come back later this morning to talk about inflation and this article you wrote how inflation could actually boost the economy. hold that thought and we'll see you later. >> okay. thanks, alex. germany's famed oktoberfest comes with a catch this year. for the first time ever owners of the beer tents are imposing a strict no smoking policy. the no smoking ban follows a change in the bavarian smoking laws which were forced through in july. so organizers of the famous beer festival decided to preempt the law and introduce the ban at this year's festivities.

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better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. warnings have been issued from florida to massachusetts today as hurricane igor churns up the surf along the east coast and in some areas could produce up to ten-foot waves. the hurricane is headed for bermuda but is such an intense storm it poses a serious rip current threat along the coast. the weather channel's eric fisher is in charleston, south carolina with more for us. considering all we're reporting at least it looks okay right now. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, alex. hi, everybody. it is certainly a beautiful morning here. the weather is going to take a turn for the worse in terms of what is above us, blue sky. what is behind us is the problem. it looks so nice and inviting but in the water you have a problem lurking.

that's the rip currents. something you can't see, runs parallel to the coast line in the surf line. when you get in that water you feel the tug and we hear about it hundreds and hundreds of times. there we see a hurricane anywhere near the coast line, rescues taking place and of course dangerous swimming conditions. as for today we're talking about dozens of surfers in the water. they were here before the sun was here earlier on this morning and they're taking advantage of 5 to 8, at times 9-foot waves. high tide was three hours ago and they are enjoying themselves for the moment but they are wary. they said early on they were feeling a tug yesterday in the water and expect worse conditions today. you have to think of igor as a massive storm even though it's down to a category you one. it was a category four and that was the damage done, all that energy coming out from the center of igor reaching the shore line here on the east coast. for the next few days we'll be talking about these rip currents along the coast line. the water comes in, has to come out at another point and creates that drag in the water. all the hotels around here are

packed. many of them surfers who came down for the weekend. one big word of warning for the folks who are going to come out to the beaches here, there are no life guards on duty. there is no beach patrol. so if you get stuck in the water you could be in big trouble, something to consider. maybe you just want to go in up to your knees. alex? >> yikes. again, you reiterate, i'll reiterate for you this threat exists for another couple days. eric fisher, thank you so much. >> thank you. in afghanistan the vote counting has begun following saturday's parliamentary elections. the turnout was low as voters dodged more than 60 rocket strikes and 30 bombings that killed 14 people. election officials are investigating numerous reports of ballot stuffing and fraud. the vote count is not expected to be complete until the end of october. joining me now from washington, d.c., the senior fellow with the center for american progress. larry, good sunday morning to you. >> nice to see you, alex. >> we're hearing about fraud complaints already, vote count has just begun. witnesses say the antifraud measures were being all ignored.

the indelible ink apparently by some, it was supposed to stain voters' fingers for 72 hours, could just be washed off so people could go back and revote. first of all are you surprised by this? >> no, i'm not. i think the most significant thing was how few people turned out. you had a million people less than last year's presidential election, 2 million people less than the last parliamentary elections. a combination of people thinking, why go out and risk my life when, in fact, you're going to have this widespread fraud you're talking about. even if you get people in government they end up being corrupt once they get in there. >> what does this tell you then about the credibility of the current government overall? not only the way it is perceived within its country but the way it will be perceived around the world? >> well, it tells you that karzai, the longer he stays in office the more ineffective he becomes, the more he gets in bed with some of these unsavory characters including his brothers, the more he relies on, you know, fraud to remain in

office and to feather his own nest. and the real question is, how long do you want americans to keep fighting and dying and spending trillions of dollars for a person like karzai? >> so with these weeks of fraud investigations before the winners are officially announced, not expected before the end of october at the earliest what do these investigations accomplish? >> well, basically i think they do shine light on how bad the situation is and hopefully the united states and its international partners will take this into account as they plot their next steps. remember, president obama has said starting next july he is going to begin turning over responsibility to the afghan government and i think this will give an indication of how quickly he should do it, how long the united states should stay there. remember, it's not just us but a lot of other countries that are with us are beginning to get out, very, very frustrated by the ineffectiveness and the corruption of the karzai

government. >> what about the afghan people? if they don't accept the results of this vote how does that affect afghanistan inside and outside? >> the real problem is they don't like the taliban. they would just prefer not to go back -- they lived under the taliban but the problem is that there is no government that they can put their trust in so i think what the people will probably do is sort of withdraw from the process, make the best deal that they can, and not whole heartedly support the united states and its allies for fear that if they do they'll suffer some sort of retribution. >> okay. always good to speak with you. thanks, lawrence. >> thank you. next up, the new page in the saga of a female tv sports reporter. why she is angry about the actions taken by a woman's media group. we'll talk about it on msnbc sunday. . . i'm adventurous and that just is who i am. for me, it's about the laughing and the joy of being in the moment. sporting events are exciting. you jump and cheer and shout.

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this morning the debate rages on about professionalism

in the world of sports journalism. ines sainz, a reporter from mexico's tv azteca complained about how she was treated by the jets in their locker room and in turn was criticized for her attire. critics say her selection of clothes had no place in the new york jets' locker room. ashley fox is a sports writer for the "philadelphia inquirer" and recently spoke out on the issue in one of her columns. good morning. i have to say i read what you said when you were being hassled by the eagles back in 2003 when you made the switch from covering the 6ers. i laughed out loud. it was brilliant. and you put them in their place immediately. >> thank you. >> there is how you handled it. in addition , a way people can handle it is dressing professionally and you're saying maybe that wasn't employed by ines. >> right. first off, you got to say that obviously harassment in the work place, there is no place for it. no man should make a woman feel uncomfortable while she is doing her job wherever her work place is. that is indisputable.

but when you're a woman covering professional sports in this country, especially in an nfl locker room where there are 53 men and probably 20 or 30 other male journalists, there is a way that you can behave whether it's through your actions or your attire that will limit your problems. you're going to stand out anyway because you're a female in a room with predominantly men. there's probably three or four women in every nfl locker room in the 32 cities across the country, so if you don't want a problem, don't dress like you're going out for the evening in tight jeans and a revealing shirt. it's very simple. >> now, there are those who are going to say, hey, if you just talk about the way she is dressing that is going to excuse the harassment. >> i'm not excusing the harassment. as i said, there is no place for it but let's be real in this situation. you're dealing with men in their 20s and 30s, hamperpampered for

most part for their entire lives and making a ton of money. if you don't want a problem, cover yourself up. don't be flirty. don't, you know, dress revealing. and in her case, she's been in situations where she sat on a player's shoulders at a super bowl media day. she has measured their biceps. >> but that's not kosher from -- i mean you're a woman in professional sports and you follow this and you cover it. i mean, would you do that? is that crossing the line? >> of course not. yes, it totally crosses the line. >> is that more like you're trying to get a date rather than cover the story? >> i think it's you're trying to draw attention to yourself. >> how about the way she dresses, this is a woman who has websites about her and has dressed provocatively. she uses her obvious sex appeal to her advantage. do you think she has done that to get a job? >> it very well could be part of

the job description and job requirement. this is obviously a mexican television network and not one in the united states. her network seems more than happy to promote her as a sex symbol so certainly there could be a lot of that at play here. but, again, when you're a professional and especially if you're traveling overseas you understand the culture that you're walking into and that's not acceptable behavior here from a sports journalist in the united states. >> okay. we'll have you back later to talk about this and get some reaction from the national organization from women as well and talk about that with you. we'll see you then. >> great. thanks. a search is under way for 13 members of a cult-like group in california. police say they left behind some letters. we'll bring you the details at the top of the hour. bermuda gets a taste of things to come with hurricane igor. ] , it's almost tee-time... time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®.

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